The invention relates to a water amusement game of the type to be played at a major water amusement park.
Following the advent of major amusement ride parks, there has been an increase in the development of amusement parks which have as their major theme, water rides and games. Particularly in the coastal and warmer climate areas, amusement parks have been developed consisting of inner tube rides, long torturous water slides, wave pools, and floating rivers where persons dressed in bathing suits participate in the water rides for an admission price. With the increasing popularity of amusement parks having a water theme, there has become a need for more diverse and varied water rides and games which can be offered. Particularly, this is true for water amusement games which are a major attraction.
Heretofore, U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,127 has taught a water gun wherein oppositely positioned players shoot at a target in which the more accurate player is rewarded by causing the target to turn in the direction of the opponent to discharge water on him. U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,073 discloses a target slidably carried on a cable with opposing players holding water guns to move the target with the object being to move the target to the opposing end of the target. These games are relatively simple and offer very little challenge to the players in the way of skill or consequences.
Accordingly, an important object of the invention is to provide a water amusement game for use as a major attraction at a water amusement park and the like which involves sufficient skill and consequences to present substantial challenge to the players.
Another object of the invention is to provide a water amusement game which can be played by persons dressed in bathing suits but will allow the players not to become wet should they play the game with sufficient skill.
Another object of the invention is to provide a water amusement game by which bathing suit dressed players at opposing stations are provided with operator controls which determine the movement of a moving target in such a manner that the persons which are able to move the target towards the opposite station which cause increasing amounts of water to be dispensed at the players at the opposite station as the target moves increasingly closer to the opposite station.
Another object of the invention is to provide a water amusement game in which bathing suit dressed players are enclosed and contained in opposed housings from where they manipulate a device to cause movement of a sliding target wherein varied amounts of water are dispensed, and alarm and voice signals are emitted at the housings as the target is moved toward one housing with the final consequence being locking of the doors of the housing and drenching of the players with water.
Another object of the invention is to provide a water amusement game which is fully automatic and involves bathing suit dressed players at opposite stations with automatic control of water being dispensed at the opposite stations depending upon the skill of the players at the respective stations.